SmartCity Kochi moves at snail’s pace, CM briefed about progress

Kochi: The much hyped about work on the SmartCity Kochi project seems to be on a very slow track and the construction of the SmartCity pavilion is well behind schedule. As per the deadline set by Tecom with the Kerala Government, the work on SmartCity Pavilion – the offices for the Administrative and Project Management team, was to be completed in four months but it’s still nowhere near completion.

Seven years after the SmartCity Kochi project was initiated and almost four years after the foundation stone was first laid, the construction work of the Rs.2,000 crore project was finally flagged off on October 08, 2011 but it has been making slow progress. In the process, the activities planned to promote the SmartCity Kochi project has also been delayed. Now the company plans to associate with the ‘Emerging Kerala’ campaign and use the event to promote the project.

In the last meeting of the Board of Directors held on March 21 in Thiruvananthapuram, Tecom, the Dubai based promoter of the SmartCity Kochi project, had made a presentation on the concept master plan of the project and had asked for more time to finalise it.

Meanwhile Dr. Baju George, Managing Director, SmartCity Kochi met Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy in Kochi yesterday and updated him about the progress of the work and the master plan. The revised target is to complete the work before the next Directors Board meeting scheduled for June.

The company plans to present to the Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones the concept master plan of the project which was approved in the last Board meeting. The construction can start only after their approval. It is learnt that the absence of a single SEZ notification for the entire 246 acres is being given as a reason for the delay in drafting the final master plan.